Groups of German Prisoners

During the early days of Neuengamme concentration camp, German prisoners (including Austrians, who were considered inhabitants of the Reich) formed the largest group. Initially, the main purpose of the concentration camps had been to imprison the Nazis’ political adversaries. From 1937, more and more members of other persecuted groups – Jewish people, Sinti and Roma, homosexuals, so-called “antisocial elements” and “professional criminals” – were taken to the camps. The reasons for imprisonment were indicated by triangles in different colors on the prisoners’ uniforms. All in all, around 9,500 German prisoners from the Reich were imprisoned at Neuengamme concentration camp, among them around 400 women in the satellite camps.